Wichita eagle., 1887-08-27
A SOUTHERN REUNION.

4 SOUTHERN REUNION.
A correspondent of the Hartford Cou-
rant furnishes that paper with the follow
ing interesting account of Confederate re-
union at Dallas, Texas:
There was an interesting reunion OF
southern soldiers at Dallas, Texas, last
week. 1t included veterans of three wars
the Texan war Of independence, the wal
with Mexico and the war of the rebellion.
Nearly all the southern states were repre-
sented. Missouri and Arkansas sent down
notably strong delegations. Visitors to the
headquarters of the Arkansas men divided
their attention between General Cabell
otherwise "Old Tige, y Colonel Robert a.
Crockett Davy Crocketts grandson,) and
a section of gum tree with four inch
inch shell, still capped and dangerous, i'm
bedded in it.
In the big Machinery hall, where the old
boys gathered to listen to the speechifying,
the only purely distinctive confederate
decoration" was an age worn battle flag
which color bearer Conner, of Ector's
brigade, had carried at Chicamauga and in
the Georgia actions. While the band
played Hail Columbia" Maryland, My
Maryland" Yankee Doodle, ""America,"
and other pieces, the vets listened quietly.
not to say alphabetically; but the first notes
of "Dixie" woke them up In jiffy. 1.-THE
old rebel yell was grandly turned loose, Z"
writes one of the reporters, land the raft
ers rang with it In a way that put to shame
the faint applause which greeted the Star
Spangled Banner'-the last niece given"
Let no one hastily infer from this Incl
dent, however, that the men who met in
Dallas last week are disaffected to the Union.
OF conrse in gathering of that sort there
were things said that would have grated on
northern ears. That was to be expected.
But speaker after speaker inculcated in
earnest words the duty of loyal devotion to
the flag Of the common country.
with us, said Captain E. E. Kidd,
"the war is over, earthly and sincerely
over. though we a seginning to get some
what tired of having continually to say so. }"
General Maxey echoed the sentiment and
pointed to the reception of Fitz Hugh Lee
at Boston and the recent reunion at Gettys
burg as proofs of the completeness of the
reconciliation. He urged the old boys in
gray to welcome the old boys in blue to the
new south-which was only the old south
continued under new conditions
make them feel at home there. Referring
to the recent battle flag episode, he spoke
with quite needless asperity of General
Fairchild, who is as far from be
ing "a feeble idiot" as the disin-
guished senator from Texas himself, and
then added: people up there Tin the
lapse of twenty four years we ought to be
able to come together under one flag, one
Union, one destiny. So far as l am per
sonally concerned, l regret this flag ques-
ton. / have not yet seen a man at the
south who cared anything about having
them returned. They were honorably lost;
they were lost In the heat of battle, because
those who bore them were overwhelmed by
greater numbers, and their return would
not efface the fact of their loss. The Hon
Il. G.. Beall, some of whose remarks had
decidedly unreconstructed flavor, agreed
with Maxey on this point ''We don't want
hose battle flags back, he said. IF was
IN possession Of any relics that cost me as
much blood and treasure and hard fighting
% get hold of, l would never give them up.
Better keep those battered banners; we
1ont want them We are now too busy
working for the prosperity Of this country
o dispute about flags" Mr. Beall paid |
ceiling tribute to the memory of General |
3rant-''the noble soldier who sleeps at |
Riverside, wept and honored by every
soldier who fought against
lim."
Colonel Crockett, of Arkansas, thanked |
Tod that the war was over. eve will |
lever try 1t again, he said. Like the
10Y who fooled with the hind end of a
aule, It we are not quite go handsome we
ave great deal more sense" General
IcCullough said the southern veterans
7ere today as proud of the flag of the
tars and stripes as though they had never
9-ra. . inst it: DR. A. g. Clopton, of
iood's brigade, ali brigham -o.,. ssionis', .
zpressed the opinion that the south
m confederacy, even If 1t had
in establishing itself,
'ould have gone to pieces with
l twenty-five years. ''It was well, he
nd, that the war was fought when it
'as, and it is well that 1t ended when 1t
Ii.
The Rev. F. Mitchell Of Waco, the last
peaker, was equally patriotic and opti-
listic Here are a few sentences from his
1dress:
This country today stands upon a
rouder eminence by far than it occupied
efore the war, and which perhaps could
OF have been reached without the war.
We old men and middle aged men show
OCCASIONALLY disposition to quarrel with
'ankees. l never black my boots nor hsr-
ess my horse that don't get little mad
18th the Yankees for taking away our
aves. l never see my wife or daugh-
rs perform duties to which they
7ere unaccustomed before enamel
alton that l do not feel a little
the old Adam rise up in me, and a de-
re to give little anathema to the Yam
ees; and yet l believe the breaking up of
avery has been great blessing to the
)u;h and to the whole country. And |
elieve We only need few more funerals
mong the politicians and then there will
e perfect peace.
1t is worth noting that several G. A r. ,
Osts were represented on the grounds be
)re the close Of the proceedings, that on
he second day three union soldiers-Gen- {
raj Stanley of the regular army, Major J. 3
T. Bigger and Major H. D. Wylie-spoke
y invitation, and that the gray headed
oys in gray and in blue sat up pretty
Iuch all night ''fraternizing Its way {
ley have.
The milk of human kindness that mas
, lpDU aDd ,1pifovmlv apj topo1 |